Tracking the location of an individual or an object or even an animal such as a domesticated animal or a pet that can move in unknown directions over a considerable range of territory has been a concern for a number of years. A number of systems have been proposed which employ existing wireless communication capabilities but which tend to be cumbersome, bulky, expensive or all of the above. With the advent of global positioning system (GPS) services) it has been possible to provide relatively inexpensive location systems for determining the location of a moving object. These have typically been utilized on trucks to provide location information for companies that have large fleets of trucks in use at any one particular time. The position of an individual truck is determined by coincident reception of signals from at least three GPS satellites by a satellite receiver, which position can then be stored or can be transmitted to a central receiving station via some sort of wireless link. Moreover, the wireless link can be a two-way communication link wherein the positioning information is only transmitted in response to receiving a request. However, the global positioning system (GPS) has some disadvantages in that it is relatively slow in acquiring the location data and it is strongly dependent upon the target object being in an open area where it is in a line of sight position relative to at least three GPS satellites A further disadvantage, particularly in a small, portable unit, is that the GPS receiver that must be included in a locating device requires the use of substantial electrical energy during the period in which the location information is being acquired and developed from the GPS system. Further, a small portable object locator, in addition to minimizing the use of electrical power while being subject to less than ideal orientations to enable quick and efficient location by the GPS system, must also be very simple and easy to use.